


Faith

by pie_and_whiskey



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Angels, Angels are Dicks, Au - Mary lives, Bisexual Dean, Bottom Castiel, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Grad Student Castiel, Kinky Dean, M/M, Mechanic Dean Winchester, Swearing, The Apocalypse, Top Dean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7732417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pie_and_whiskey/pseuds/pie_and_whiskey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Au where Mary lives. Grad student Castiel Novak leads a pretty regular apple pie life until a certain green eyed mechanic turns his world upside down with a secret that threatens to destroy everything he knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my ever fanfiction so any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks and enjoy.

_2 nd  November, 1983_

The sound of her crying child wrenched Mary out of her uneasy sleep. She felt around the around the bed, searching for her husband.

“John?” When her hands met nothing but cold sheets, she sighed, realising John must have fallen asleep in front of the television after their fight the previous day. Her limbs heavy with sleep, Mary slowly rose from the bed and crept to the nursery, careful not to wake her older son, Dean. A figure loomed over Sam’s cot.

“John?”  She asked again. “Is he hungry?”

“Shh,” was his only reply.                                                                                                                    

“Alright,” she shrugged, not having the heart to fight this late at night. As she turned and left the room, something caught her eye that made her heart stop in its tracks. A flickering light. A classic sign of the supernatural. The hunter in her wanted to grab the salt, and every instinct was telling her to take her children and hide. _Calm down!_ She reprimanded herself internally. Normal people wouldn’t panic over a flickering light. They hadn’t changed that bulb in a while – that was all.

To appease herself, she walked over to it and tapped it gently with her fingertip until the flickering stopped. _There,_ she thought. Relief evened her heartbeat. She had just been overreacting. The sound of the television reached her ears. She exhaled sharply in irritation. _He couldn’t even be bothered to turn off the TV!_ She made her way down the stairs, but as she reached the bottom step for the second time that night, her heart went cold. John was laying on the sofa. Who the fuck was with her child?! She started back up the stairs, but the calendar on the wall stopped her dead. It was November 2 nd, the ten year anniversary of her parent’s deaths. The ten year anniversary of her deal.

His voice rang in her ears. _“In ten years I need to swing by your house for a little something, that’s all.”_

She remembered demanding what for.

 _“Relax,”_ he had soothed her in a tone that did all but that. _“As long as I’m not interrupted, nobody gets hurt, I promise.”_

How could she have done that? Her child was in danger now because she’d been too weak to live alone. She wanted to run in there and run that yellow eyed demon through! But with what? What could possibly kill a demon? Could she exorcise it in time, before it hurt somebody? Standing here doing nothing wouldn’t save her son. She had to do _something_! She ran up the stairs, back towards the nursery. She knew unarmed she wouldn’t be any use to anyone, but she had to try. She slammed the door open.

“Exorcizamus-” she cut off when she realised the room was empty. Mary was almost too afraid to look inside Sam’s crib. Slowly, cautiously, she approached it. Peering inside, she realised a shaky breath of relief. Sam was safe, and asleep. She reached out and pressed him to her chest, trembling as the adrenaline surging through her veins subsided and all that was left was gratitude. By some miracle, her son was safe.

“Angels are watching over us, Sam,” she whispered, stroking his cheek. She stopped abruptly when she saw a streak of crimson on his lower lip. It glistened wetly. She hesitantly ran her finger over it and brought it closer to her eyes. Blood. “Oh god,” she whispered. _That son of a bitch fed my baby his fucking blood!_ As she shook with rage, suburban mum Mary Winchester took the backseat, and hunter Mary Campbell came out to play. She knew what she had to do now to save her son.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Present Day_

 

“Castiel!” His oldest brother hollered up to him from the foot of the stairs. “Cas! Breakfast.” Rubbing his eyes with fisted hands, Castiel sat up in his bed and glanced at the clock. Nine am. Way too early, in Cas’ opinion, but he’d hate to face Michael’s wrath if he missed breakfast with his family.

Cursing every deity there was for allowing Michael to drag him out of bed early on a Saturday, Cas made his way over to the bathroom to prepare for the day ahead. And what did Cas have planned? A fat load of _nothing_ , in which he relished. Of course, he wasn’t naïve enough to celebrate just yet. The danger of Michael unloading chore upon chore on him was still very real.

As he made his way downstairs, he was greeted with the usual commotion he faced every morning. Lucifer, or Luci as they called him, was arguing with Michael over god knows what, _again_ ; Gabriel stood by the cupboard pouring sugar into his cereal which was no doubt already chock full; Anna was bitching to someone down the phone and Raphael sat in the corner warily watching it all unfold. He was the first one to notice Cas.

“Good morning, Castiel,” he greeted in his normal, overly formal way. He nodded in response, still too full of sleep to form a proper reply. It was hell trying to get anything done in that kitchen. He manoeuvred around Lucifer and Michael, almost getting smacked in the face by one of Lucifer’s flailing arms as he expressed his frustration, managed to pull the sugar away from Gabriel and finally got Anna out of the way long enough to make himself a cup of coffee.

He sighed in relief as he took a seat beside Raphael at the table. He hated mornings. “Anything on the agenda for today then?” He asked Raphael, desperately hoping the answer would be no. As if reading his mind, Raphael gave him a look that clearly conveyed how stupid he thought that question was.

“Ask Michael.” He said simply. Castiel cast a look over to the brother in question. He had finally managed to sort things out with Lucifer and came to sit at the table. The others gravitated to him. Michael cleared his throat, gesturing for Anna to hang up the phone. Sighing, she did as she was told.

“Alright, so we’ve got a lotta work to get through today.” Castiel’s heart sunk. “Balthazar is already out on the grocery run. Castiel,” his gaze bore into Castiel. “After _someone’s_ idiotic prank,” he cast a look at Lucifer, “my car is in the Winchester’s garage. Check up on it. She was expensive, make sure those idiots didn’t mess her up.  Anna…” he went on to allocate tasks, but Cas stopped listening, instead stared into his coffee. He thought back to a time where Michael wasn’t their drill sergeant but their brother. He exhaled heavily. Someone had to play at being a parent, he guessed. Without a further word to the rest of his family, Cas got up and dumped the remainder of his coffee in the sink.

“I’ll be back later,” he mumbled at his family, who had once again began shouting at one another. Only Raphael acknowledged him, nodding. He clambered into his ’78 Lincoln Continental, or as his brothers called it, ‘The Pimp Mobile’, and made his way over to the garage. He hated going over there, John Winchester had an aura about him that always made him seem inferior and insignificant.

“Pull yourself together, Cas,” he mumbled as he drove. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally pulled up to the garage. Sliding out, he cast a look over the place. It was the kind of place that his mother wouldn’t dare even look at, lest her social stature fall even an inch. He could picture her delicate white heels getting coated in oil and chuckled to himself. She’d probably faint.

“Can I help you?” The perky young woman at the counter asked.

“Um, yes. My name is Castiel. I’m here to check up on a car, Michael Novak’s?”

“Alright,” she replied, providing him with a bright smile before tapping away at her computer. His eyes flickered down to her name tag. Jessica. “Dean Winchester’s working on it right now, just head down that corridor, turn left, and as soon as you step outside you’ll see him.” Thanking her, he went on his way. Cas was grateful that he wouldn’t be facing John that morning. Maybe the day would go better than he had previously thought. As it turned out, he was not, in the slightest, prepared for what was waiting for him out there.

His eyes started at the bottom, watching those bowlegs sway. They travelled up at a leisurely pace to the ass presenting itself to him as the man bent over the open hood of the car. A throat cleared beside him, causing a blush to cover his cheeks. He turned to see a dark haired man towering above him. Cas took a step back. This guy was huge!

“Can I help you?” The man asked with an amused smile on his face.

“Um…I…er…yes,” he finally concluded. “I’m looking for Dean Winchester?” At the sound of his name, the bowlegged man stepped away from the car and turned to face him.

“That’d be me.” His husky voice did unimaginable things to Castiel. Cas turned to face him, and it took all of his will power to suppress a gasp. The man was – in a word – gorgeous. Twinkling green eyes, a strong jaw and lips that Cas yearned with every bone in his body to feel against his lips, and wrapped around something else…

“I…” Castiel had always been slightly awkward, but this was something else. He had never been so…taken in by _anyone_ before. He didn’t even notice the other huge man walk away. The slight grin playing at the corners of that mouth snapped him out of the trance. “Michael.” He practically vomited the word.

“That your name?” Dean asked.

“No…no, my name is Castiel.”

“Castiel,” his name slid off the other man’s lips in a low, rough whisper that had him trembling.

“And you’re Dean.” Dean’s body subtly tensed, if Castiel hadn’t been watching this beautiful man so intently he’d have missed it. He hoped that meant Cas had an effect on Dean, too.

“Um, yeah,” he responded. “What can I do ya for?” Cas internally groaned as he caught the words “do ya”.

“I’m here to check up on Michael Novak’s car.” Dean quirked a brow. This time when Dean’s figure tensed, every edge of his face hardened. Michael had clearly pissed this guy off.

“We told him we’d call him when it was done,” he practically snapped.

“Yes, well, my brother is…he’s overly protective when it comes to his car.”

“This plastic piece of crap?” He gestured behind him. “That ain’t a real car. Now, my baby on the other hand…you should see her, she’s the real deal.”

“Your baby?” Cas asked, amusement colouring his tone.

“Yeah my baby! She’s beautiful. A ’67 Impala…”  Dean then went on to babble about his ‘baby’ in what could have been Ancient Babylonian for all Cas understood, but stood out to Cas was the passion in his eyes. His eyes got impossibly brighter, making him impossibly hotter. “I’m sorry, I’ve been rambling. You’re here about the car.”

“It’s fine,” Cas assured him in a gruff tone. Dean couldn’t discern the expression on his face, but Cas’ blue eyes staring into his told him that Cas really didn’t mind one bit. A breath-taking smile split his face.

“Well, alright then. Anyway, the car’ll be ready by tomorrow so I guess he can come and get it anytime.”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to know that.”

“Yeah.” Silence descended upon them. “Well, I gotta get back to this so-”

“Dean,” Cas cut him off.

“Uh, yeah,” he replied.

“Thank you.”

“Just doing my job.” He flashed a smile at Cas, and it pained him. It wasn’t genuine like his other one, and Cas wondered what had changed in such a short time. “I’ll see you around,” he said abruptly, turning back to the car, effectively dismissing Cas. His heart dropped.

“Yeah, see you,” he mumbled, to which there was no response. Whatever. He didn’t care. The man was obviously only being nice to him because he was a customer. It was his job. It didn’t matter to him.

That’s what Castiel told himself on the drive home, and as he lay awake in bed that night. He banished every thought of Dean to the deepest recesses of his mind and drifted into a restless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

As it happened, Castiel was not the only one left reeling from the encounter. As he bent back over the car, he winced internally at the hurt clear in Castiel’s voice. Fuck. Never had Dean met anyone so…Dean couldn’t even describe it. It was like Cas just had this gravitational pull that made Dean want to pull him into his arms and never let go. Double fuck. He had to get Cas out of his head. Feelings like these, real _feelings_ didn’t go well with his line of work. Tonight, he’d go to a bar and drown his emotions in whiskey and maybe even sex.

How could he even _have_ feelings for Castiel? He’d only spoken to him for – like – five minutes. Sexual frustration, that’s what this was.  He hadn’t gotten laid in a while, that was it. A small voice in his head told him that that was utter bullshit. There was something between them, call it chemistry, call it sexual tension, Dean knew that they had something. And, staring into Castiel’s eyes, Dean had felt a twinge of recognition, like they’d met before.

But that was impossible. He’d remember a guy like _that_.

“Dean!” He jerked his head up, slamming it against the propped up bonnet.

“Son of a bitch!” He cursed lowly, rubbing the spot and scowling. He could hear Sam laughing as he approached.

“You alright man?” He chuckled.

“Yeah yeah I’m fine. What d’ya want?”

“Dad’s got a job. Come check it out.”

“A job?” Dean cast an uncertain look towards the car he’d just been working on. Castiel’s brother’s car. “But I’m working, I said I’d get this car done by tomorrow.” Sam grinned.

“Hoping to see that guy again? Michael? This his ride?”

“Nah, that was Castiel,” Dean couldn’t help the thrill he got talking about him. “This is his brother’s car. The guys a douche, if I don’t deliver like I said I would he’ll be around bitching. And guys like that, the ones with money, they could ruin us Sammy! So I gotta-”

“You’re rambling Dean.” Sam’s smile grew larger. “But I’m surprised you thought he was a dick. He seemed pretty into you.”

“What – no! I meant his brother, Michael.” He paused. “Cas was interested?”

“Cas?”

“Cas, Castiel – hey man shut up!”

“Sorry dude,” Sam choked out through laughs. “I just haven’t seen you this into someone since Lisa. And he was totally into you. He was checking out your ass for like, five minutes, ‘til I came alone.” Dean’s face dropped at the mention of Lisa.

“Yeah,” Dean looked down, grabbing a rag to clean off his hands. “Let’s go see what Dad has for us.”

“What about the car?” Dean made his way inside.

“It can wait,” he relied gruffly.

“Dean-”

“Come on, Sam.” And just like that, Dean had closed himself off from his brother. Sam regretted bringing up Lisa. It just reminded Dean of what he could never have, not with Lisa, not with Castiel. Not as a hunter. Sam ran to catch up with his brother. He opened his mouth to say something, but sensing this, Dean spoke. “Enough, Sam. This is just part of The Life.”

“Right,” Sam sighed, hanging his head. “The Life.”

“Boys,” John looked up at them as they entered his office.

“Dad,” Dean responded. “You got a job?”

“Mhm, come and take a look at this.” They gathered around their father. “There’ve been killings. All in universities, all over the country. Every two years, a handful of professors are killed, hands and feet chopped off, and this symbol carved into their chests.” He slid a photograph over to the boys.  They frowned, not recognising it. “The pattern is simple, whatever’s doing it is just making its way across the country and Stanford has the privilege of being hit next. I want you two to be on red alert, the killings’ll be starting soon. I’ve called Bobby, got him looking up the lore, maybe he can pull something up.” Dean felt a twinge of relief. Stanford. That was nearby, Dean didn’t have to leave. He could work on the car and see Castiel tomorrow…

“Jesus,” said Sam, running a hand through his shaggy locks. “So, what, we just wait around until one of my professors is brutally murdered?!” John gave him a hard look.

“What do you suggest we do, boy?”

“Something, anything!”

“All you _can_ do is keep an eye out when you go back on Monday. For now, keep your head down. We don’t want it to know what we are.” Dean nodded and headed out. He could hear Sam muttering under his breath but paid it no attention. He wanted to finish the car and the get out of there. Get some time to himself. Maybe he’d take Baby out for a spin. He just wanted to get those haunting blue eyes out of his head.

***

That night, as Dean drooled onto his pillow, he dreamed of those blue eyes. He was in hell, flames erupting all around him as he carved into some poor bastard. Then, a voice cut through the screams.

“Hello Dean.” His head whipped up, and he was met with two glowing blue eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Castiel woke early that morning to, once again, Michael calling up to him. He went about his usual routine, washing, dressing…but this time, there was an undeniable spring in his step. Because, as much as he hated it, he was excited to see Dean Winchester again.

“Why do you look so happy?” Was the greeting Castiel received from Gabriel around the spoon dangling from his mouth as he entered the kitchen.

“Good morning to you, too, Gabriel.” Castiel replied, giving him a wry look. “Is it a crime for me to be in a good mood?”

“Don’t get me wrong bro, I’m glad, but at,” he checked his watch, “half eight in the morning, yeah it kinda is.” Castiel only chuckled.

“Cas,” Michael called. “Hurry up and eat something so we can go and get my car!” Rolling his eyes in half-hearted annoyance, Cas grabbed a travel mug and filled it with coffee.

“Let’s go,” he waved Michael over. Michael narrowed his eyes at Cas.

“Eat something first.”

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” Gabriel chimed in.

“I’m twenty-two not twelve, I’ll be fine.” Cas replied wearily. He was a grown-ass man and didn’t need to be babied. Michael stared at him a little while longer. “C’mon! You want your car back, don’t you?” Michael sighed.

“Fine let’s go.”

***

Dean’s eyes flew open. He panted, covered in sweat. Fuck, he’d dreamt of hell again. And…Castiel. A knock came at his door.

“Honey?” The voice called. “Dean?”

“Er,” Dean replied, sitting up and running a hand down his face. “Just-just a minute.”  He got up and splashed his face with ice cold water, hoping it would jerk him out of it. He hated dreaming of hell. He’d been back for a month, but couldn’t leave it behind. The screaming, the sobbing, the begging…the blood gushing out of his intricate carvings and soaking his hand. He remembered raising that hand to his face, sticking out his tongue, watching the horror deep in their eyes…

Fuck. He didn’t want to remember. He thought back to his dream. That _couldn’t_ have been a memory. There’s no way awkward _Castiel_ was in the pit with him. “Dean?” The voice shouted again. “Are you coming down? You’ll be late for work.”

“Yeah, mum, coming,” Dean said as he pulled open the door and jogged downstairs. He greeted Mary with a kiss on her cheek. “Morning.”

“Morning baby,” she smiled. “I made you breakfast.”

“Hey!” Dean exclaimed. “Pancakes!” He sat down, pulling the plate over and drowning it in syrup. “Thanks mum, you’re the best!” He said around a mouthful. She smiled and shook her head.

“Your dad tell you about the job?” Swallowing, he nodded.

“Yeah, not much we can do though.” His mother nodded.

“I just want you to make sure Sam is safe.”

“Sam?” Dean asked, his confusion clear.

“Well it’s hitting Stanford next isn’t it?”

“Just the professors.”

“Still. You need to watch out for Sam.”

“Always do,” he replied proudly. She ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead.

“My brave little boy.” He just laughed. “Your daddy and Sam are already down at the garage, you head down too once you’re down.” Dean nodded, glancing at the time. Six.

Dean worked throughout the morning, constantly glancing at the clock, waiting. Michael said they’d be over by nine. He tried to keep his mind occupied, burying himself in his work, but by half eight he gave up entirely. He decided coffee was a good way to go.

Stirring his mug, he realised that this was probably going to be the last he ever saw of Castiel. Should he ask for a number? Before he could even properly finish the thought, images flashed before his eyes. Images of ghosts tearing into people, vampires sinking their teeth into soft flesh, and Dean himself, standing over a crying figure with a _smile_ on his face. And just like that, the thought was gone.

He walked back at a leisurely pace, passing the reception as he went.

“Mr Winchester.” A voice called. _Must be looking for dad_ , he thought to himself.

“Mr Winchester!” Dammit, he recognised that voice. It was that asshat Michael. He hoped John would put that stuck up jackass in his place.

“Mr Winchester!” Dean was glad to hear the increasing annoyance in his voice.

“Dean.” That gravelly voice had him stopping in his tracks. He was transported in his mind to his bedroom, with Cas writhing underneath him, grunting and begging in that same hoarse tone. Dean spun on his heel.

“Castiel,” he greeted. Michael’s glare was so fierce it was as if he was trying to smite Dean with a look.

“I was calling you, Mr Winchester. Perhaps you didn’t hear me?” His tone conveyed that he doubted that very much.

“No, no. I heard you. I just thought you were calling my father.” He was tempted to say he just didn’t care. “No one calls me Mr Winchester.” Michael made a ‘hmm’ noise, as if this was a particularly telling fact. He looked Dean up and down. _Goddamn stuck up-_ Dean’s internal rant was cut off by Castiel.

“We’re here for the car.” Dean’s gaze immediately snapped to Castiel, and it took all of him not to get lost in those swirling blue orbs.

“Right this way.” Without checking to see if they followed, Dean spun on his heel and headed outside. He could feel Castiel’s presence behind him. So close, Dean could smell him. It was intoxicating. He sped up.

“Here it is,” he gestured towards it. Michael immediately bent over it, scanning it for any bump or scratch.

“Michael,” Castiel reprimanded gently. “I’m sure its fine.”

“It better be,” he replied, straightening up. “This car probably cost more than your house.” Dean’s eyes narrowed.

“Well then you’re one stupid son of a bitch, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?” Michael stepped forward. Dean tensed for a fight.

“Who’d throw away that much money on this plastic piece of crap?” Castiel couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corner of his lips at the familiar phrase. “Like I said, you’d have to be pretty damn stupid.”

“Listen boy-”

“Is there a problem here?” The gigantic man from the day before approached. At the sight of him, Michael took a step back. Dean on his own was formidable enough, but with this guy? Castiel wanted to laugh.

“Nah, Sammy, he was just about to go, weren’t you, _Mr Novak_?”

“Yes.” He replied shortly. “Come on, Castiel. I’ll meet you at home.” The silence was thick as Michael got into his car and drove away. Castiel watched him pull away before turning to Dean.

“I’m sorry about my brother, he can be a bit…”

“Douchey?” Dean suggested.

“Well, yes, that. But he’s family.” Dean nodded, staring into Castiel’s eyes.

“I’m Sam, by the way.” The man next to Dean extended a hand. Cas tried to stop his eyes widening at the size of it. He took it.

“Castiel.” Sam nodded.  There was another silent, though more awkward than tense.

“Well, I should go…” Castiel trailed off. Dean nodded, his eyes on the floor. Cas thought he saw a flash of disappointment, but brushed it off as wishful thinking. As he turned to walk out, Dean called out to him.

“Cas!” Immediately, Cas turned back.

“Yes?”

“Lemme walk you out.” Castiel nodded, masking his happiness. They walked side by side in silence. Their arms brushed together, making Cas want to intertwine them. He expected Dean to leave him at the door, but he continued to walk with him up to his car. At the sight of it, Dean froze.

“What? What is it?” Castiel demanded, worry flooding his system.

“This? This is your car?” Dean pointed accusingly at it.

“Yes…?”

“Man, what are you, a pimp or something?” Cas couldn’t help the smile that broke out over his face.

“My brothers call it ‘The Pimpmobile.’.”

“Yeah no doubt. What is it with your family and crappy cars? I’ll show you my baby one day, she’s a real car.”

“I’d like that.” Cas knew as well as Dean did that the promise was hollow, but it felt good to hear and good to make. The smiles faded. Cas caught his gaze and once again the two were trapped. A cold breeze flew by, leaving his fair fluttering in the wind, and telling him it was time to go. Nodding to Dean in farewell, he got into his car and drove away from that frustrating Dean Winchester.


	5. Chapter 5

8 days. It had been 8 days since Castiel Novak had seen Dean Winchester. In contrast to what Castiel had feared, the world _did not_ end. Life went on as usual. He went to lectures. He spent time with his family. He even meet someone. Her name was Meg. She was sassy, verging on bitchy, and entirely unsympathetic towards everyone. But Castiel was drawn to her. Not in a Dean Winchester kind of way, but her continuous flirting made Cas feel like there was something there. At first he hated her, avoided her, but the longer he was away from Dean and all those feelings built up inside of him, the more he wanted to slam her against the nearest wall, re-enacting his favourite porno with a babysitter and a pizza delivery boy.

“Well, hello there Clarence,” she drawls as he approaches her. She allows him a peck on the lips before pulling away teasingly. He frowned. “Not here big boy. This ain’t exactly the place” He nodded. The university tended to frown upon couples sucking each other’s faces off in the halls.

“I have to go to my lecture. We can go somewhere…private after?” A devilish grin spread across her face.

“You’re confident. I like that.” She licked her lips. “Sure, we can go somewhere _private_ afterwards.” He left her there, staring after him in the hallway as he made his way to the anthropology lecture. He glanced behind him a few seconds later, but she had gone. Like she’d vanished into thin air…He shook his head. He didn’t even know what she was studying, he’d just bumped into her in the hall one day – very literally. Despite his apologies, Meg had been…rude, to say the least. Cas didn’t like to hear her talk, rather just feel her lips on his. She was a good distraction.

On his way to class, he bumped into Balthazar. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to pick you up,I know Anna dropped you off but she's busy. You don't have the next lecture today." 

“Why? What’s going on? And how do you know that?” he questioned as the two of them entered the lecture theatre.

“Didn’t you hear, Cassie? Professor Jones is dead. I'm quite...familiar with those gorgeous receptionists that work here, and they are very forthcoming with information.”

“What?” He demanded. Castiel had been his favourite student, and he Cas’ favourite professor.

“He was found, hands and feet cut off, a mark carved into his chest.”

“Excuse me!” A dark man walked in. It looked as though a scowl was permanently etched onto his face. “I’m with the FBI, agent Luther Vandross, I’m here to talk to a Castiel?”

“Hang on!” Balthazar frowned. “Luther Vandross like the _singer_ Luther Vandross?” The scowl got impossibly deeper.

“No. Is anyone here Castiel Novak?”

“Yes.” Castiel stepped forward. “Me.”

“If you’d be so kind as to come with me I’d like to ask you a few questions.” Castiel nodded, following him out. They walked partially down a hall before stopping. “Now, Castiel-”

“I’d like to see your badge please.” Cas interrupted. The scowl faded slightly, and Cas could have sworn he caught something in those eyes like…panic? Nevertheless, he handed over the badge. When he couldn’t see anything wrong with it, he reluctantly handed it back.

“Happy?” Cas narrowed his eyes, but nodded.

“How may I help you?”

“You were close to Dr Jones?”

“Yes. He helped me on many an occasion.”

“I want to know…was he acting…strange? Before he died?”

“Specify strange?”

“Well, was he worried at all, anxious? Did he think anything was after him, did he ever complain about cold spots or flickering lights?”

“What kind of questions are those?”

“Simple ones. Answer ‘em.” Castiel’s gaze grew cold.

“No. Nothing of the sort.”

“Anything new with him?”

“No.”

“Think a little harder. Any detail you can remember, doesn’t matter how irrelevant it might seem.”

“Uh,” Castiel ran a hand through his already mussed up hair. “He was going through a long and frankly painful divorce with his wife. He began frequenting a bar a few days before his death.”

“Can you tell me the name of this bar?”

***

The days running up to Landon Jones’ death were incredibly unremarkable for Dean Winchester. He spent his days working in the shop, watching out for anything that might want to end Stanford’s professors bloody, and dreaming about a certain dark haired man with blue eyes. He always thought of Cas as his very own blue eyed angel. The days were so dull they were all beginning to wonder whether John had been wrong about this one. That is, until a professor turned up dead.

John had called an old friend of his, Bobby Singer, who sent down a fellow hunter to help them out. They couldn’t exactly play FBI in their own town.  As they waited for Rufus to return, Sam was clacking away at his laptop researching the lore.

“So get this,” he began. Mary and John turned to him, whilst Dean listened from the kitchen where he was reheated last night’s lasagne. “I think they’re Amazons. The symbol fits.” He twisted the laptop to face them. “They’re supposedly the offspring of Ares and Harmonia, a tribe of women who used men to create offspring and then amputated their limbs. According to this, they made a deal with the goddess Harmonia to give them, like, super strength, along with the ability to reproduce quickly. Like, thirty six hours quickly. Those men probably slept with them, knocked them up, then the chick came back and killed them.”

“It makes sense,” said John, leaning back in his chair. “I mean, they already have the physical aspects down. That’s why they’re targeting the professors, so their children will be smart as well as strong.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Dean began around a mouthful of sandwich.

“Dean!” Mary scolded.

“Sorry ma,” he apologised as he swallowed.

“Anyway, what you’re saying is they’re looking for the brains to go with the brawn right? Is that even genetic?”

“According to some studies,” Sam shrugged. “Nothing concrete. But it’s worth a shot right?”

“So what do we do now?”

“We talk to Rufus.” John got up to open the door just as Rufus was raising his hands to knock. “What’ve you got for us, Agent Vandross?”

“Hello to you too, John,” he replied, brushing past him into the house. “I’ll make myself comfortable, shall I?” Mary smiled at him.

“Nice to see you back in one piece, Rufus. You didn’t run into any trouble did you?”

“I wasn’t even hunting the damn thing, I was just talking, of course I was fine.”

“So what’d you find?” John asked as he sat back down.

“I talked to this one kid he was close to, a student. Real weird name, like, Cassiel or something? Like an angel.”

“Castiel?” Dean sat upright.

“Yeah,” Rufus gave Dean a questioning look. “How’d you know?” Dean cleared his throat.

“Lucky guess. What he tell you?”

“Not much, just that the professor had started visited a local place near the university to get over his divorce. Thought we could check it out.”

“That’s probably their hunting ground,” said Mary thoughtfully.

“Excuse me?” Rufus raised an eyebrow. “Care to fill me in?”

“We think they’re Amazons,” Sam explained. “They’re using these men to create offspring then killing them. They’re like a crazy cult.” Rufus turned to Mary.

“And you think that’s where they’re looking for victims” She shrugged.

“Makes sense, I mean it’s close to the school so it’s good for finding the smart ones, and it’s a good place to find drunk professors with little inhibition looking for a night of…fun.” He nodded slowly.

“So how do we gank the sons of bitches?”

“Dean! Language.”

“Sorry, ma,” Dean shot her a sheepish look.

“It says here they should die just like normal people. Nothing special. All we gotta do is find them.”

“Alright.” Dean rubbed his hands together. Let’s go drinking!”

***

“Alright, Cassie,” said Balthazar, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s go drinking!”

“Not in the mood,” Cas groaned from his place sprawled over the bed in front of a laptop. “I’ve got too much work to do.”

“C’mon, Cas. It’s Monday, which means you have no lectures tomorrow. A perfect time to get roaring drunk and nurse the hangover in the morning. Get up.” Cas responded with a groan. “I won’t take no for an answer. You need to let loose more often. I’ll go see if Gabriel wants to come. The rest of our brothers have sticks up their asses, they’ll be no fun.”

All too soon, Castiel was seated in the Pimpmobile, roaring down the streets towards a bar. Students just seemed to gravitate towards the one near the university.

“Okay,” Gabriel started. “If we get separated, meet back here by midnight so Cas-stick-in-the-mud-stiel-”

“Was that supposed to be funny?” Cas interrupted, rolling his eyes.

“Can drive us home.” He continued, ignoring Cas altogether. “Be responsible kids.” He stared wide eyed at Balthazar and Cas. “Let someone else know if you’re leaving with a stranger, and don’t be silly, wrap your willy.”

“Yes mother,” it was Balthazar’s turn to roll his eyes. “Can we go now?”

“Alright, sassypants,” Gabriel stuck his tongue out. “Let’s go have some fun!” He pulled a lollypop seemingly from out of mid-air before climbing out of the car. Balthazar was close behind him. Cas sighed, taking a moment to collect himself. He was not at all in the mood to drink himself silly after finding out his favourite professor had died. He just wanted to sit at home, wrapped in a duvet, cosy and warm and work. The roar of an engine caught his attention. He looked over to see a black Impala park up a few spots next to him.

A hard knock on his window jerked him away from the car and towards Gabriel. “Hurry up, already!” Cas clambered out of the car, shivering immediately as the cold air hit his skin. His hair flew up from the wind and his cheek’s adopted a pink tinge.

“Let’s hurry up and get inside,” he grumbled. “I’m freezing out here.” Gabriel chuckled and the three made their way inside. They found a table in the middle of the place.

“Alright,” Gabriel said as the other two took their seats. “Drinks. Balty, the usual?” He nodded, already eyeing up a group of girls giggling near the bar. “Ooh,” Gabriel exclaimed excitedly, following Balthazar’s gaze. “Dibs on blondie over there.” Without turning back to Cas, he asked, “Coke?”

Castiel sighed. “Why don’t I get the drinks while you two go over there and talk to them?” Before the words had completely left Cas’ lips the two sped away.

“Thanks bro!” Gabriel called over his shoulder. Shaking his head, though smiling slightly, Cas made his way over to the bar. He leaned against it as ordered and then waited. Impatiently, he drummed his fingers against the countertop. A laughing group of people entered, catching his attention as they made their way over to a table clos to Cas’. He recognised two of them, John and Sam Winchester. His breath caught. Did that mean…?

 _Calm down, Castiel,_ he told himself as he tried to slow his racing heart. So what if Dean was here? A man smelling strongly of leather came and stood beside him, waiting to order. He inhaled subtly, loving the smell of leather and soap, and something that was entirely his own, something entirely… Dean. He looked up and met a pair of swirling green orbs.

“Cas,” he breathed.

“Dean,” he replied, his voice equally quiet. It was as if this moment was theirs, only theirs, so private that no one else was allowed to even hear them.

“How you doing, Cas?” Dean asked, not breaking their gaze. Cas tried to reply but all that came out was a hoarse sort of croak. Clearing his throat, he spoke once more.

“Good, and you?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” They fell into an uncomfortable silence. They’d both been dreaming of this moment, both had so much to say, but now that the time was here they couldn’t seem to form the words.

“Good, that’s good.” Cas cleared his throat once more. The bartender served him his drinks, filling Castiel with sharp relief. “Thank you,” he made off with the drinks, not looking back at Dean. That didn’t stop Dean looking at Cas’ ass all the way back to his table.

Cas sat alone, staring down into his coke as Balthazar and Gabriel flirted their asses off. He hated bars. He could hear the Winchesters, laughing together, causing a melancholy feeling to rise within Castiel. Even when his parents had been alive, his family had never been like that, so easy going and relaxed. Glancing over, he frowned. The FBI agent, Vandross, was sitting with them. He knew the Winchesters? He felt the heat of a gaze on him, and flicking his eyes over he saw Dean. At first glance he seemed relaxed, leaning back in his chair and sipping from his beer. But Cas saw deeper than that. He saw the tensing of his jaw, the coiled muscles under his shirt, and the tightly fisted hands. It looked like at any moment he would spring. He was a predator.

A throat clearing nearby yanked Cas out of his intense studying of Dean. He looked up to see a gorgeous woman smiling at him. “Hey,” she greeted. Everything about her was utterly sensual, from the dark curls falling beyond her waist to the way she gently swayed her hips. “This seat taken?” She gestured to the clearly empty seat beside Castiel.

“Er,” he began.

“Great,” she sat down. “I’m Marilyn. Who might you be?”

“Castiel,” he spoke with more confidence than before. Though bisexual, it had been a while since he’d been with a woman. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he’d been with anybody.

“Ooh,” her eyes lit up. “That’s unusual. I like it.” Cas flushed. His name was a source of insecurity for him.

“Thank you.” He looked into her eyes. They were hazel, leaving Cas wishing for a little more green… _No_! He told himself.

“So sugar, tell me a little more about yourself? You go to Stanford right? I’ve seen you there a couple times, but you’ve probably never noticed me.” Castiel frowned. He definitely would have noticed _her_.

“Listen,” he began, about to tell her about Meg, when Dean Winchester came along.

“Hey, Cas, buddy, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure,” Cas sprung up, relieved at such an easy out. Dean walked him over to the bar.

“Sorry to interrupt over there.” Dean’s eyes were hard, unreadable.

“No, you saved me an awkward rejection,” he chuckled.

“You were going to turn her down?” The shock was evident in his voice.

“I’m sort of seeing someone, so it wouldn’t be right.” Dean didn’t know whether to be happy that Cas was never going to fall for that bitch’s trick or punch something because he was taken. He looked down at the counter, trying not to show his jealousy.

“Right.” And that was all he said.

“So…” Castiel trailed off.

“So?”

“Why’d you bring me over here?”

“Right.” He said again. How exactly did Dean explain that he’d been eavesdropping into their conversation and was convinced the girl was an Amazon? Especially when all he had to go off was her openly hitting on him? Sam was convinced it was just jealousy, but Dean had an off feeling about that girl. Luckily, he was saved from having to answer by Balthazar approaching them. He stopped just before them, clearly wanting to talk privately with Cas. “You know what? It wasn’t important. Have a nice night.” He turned away, running a hand through his hair and exhaling heavily.

“How’d it go?” Sam asked as Dean sat back down.

“Fine. He wasn’t into her anyway. I didn’t have to tell him anything.”

“So why’d you look so bummed out?” Dean ignored the question.

“Looks like she found another victim. I’m gonna tail her. You guys stay here in case anyone else turns up.” Without waiting for a reply he got up and followed the pair.

Meanwhile, Balthazar took Dean’s space next to Cas, frowning heavily. “That woman, what did she want?”

“I don’t know. I think she was hitting on me. Why is it of importance?”

“She’s trouble. Stay away from her.” His frown deepened as he watched her as she and her new prey rose to leave. “Stay here. I need to…talk to her.”

“Wait, Balthazar!” He took no notice of Cas calling him, following the couple. Cas thought he saw a gleam of silver in his hands.

As Dean left the bar he noticed someone else close behind the couple, Castiel’s friend from before. He pulled out his gun. The couple, stumbling and giggling, didn’t notice the two men following behind them. Balthazar, however, noticed Dean.

“Put that thing away.” He told Dean without turning around.

“You talking to me?” He rounded on Dean.

“Yes, I’m talking to you, you imbecile, now put that thing away before you blow my cover and she runs.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Dean’s finger inched towards the trigger.

“I know what you’re thinking and it won’t do much good.” Balthazar looked at his gun pointedly. “And I’m much more interested in who _you_ are. You warned Cassie off of her,” he nodded towards the girl still tottering away from them, “and now you’re tailing her, so either you’re the jealous type, or you’re a hunter.”

“The jealous type?”

“Oh please, don’t even bother pretending.”

“You a hunter too then?”

“No,” he paused, glancing towards the pair. “But I know about _them_. I’ll assume you’ve got this and return to the bar then, shall I? Ciao.” And then he turned and walked away so fast he practically vanished.

“Dick,” Dean mumbled under his breath.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been super long since I've updated but I'm back! Its kinda short, I just wanted to get something up, another much longer chapter is on its way! xxx

Dean stalked quietly after the woman, his hand hovering nervously over the gun in his coat. Luckily for him, she avoided heavily populated areas, sticking to back roads. Suddenly, the woman veered off course down an alleyway.

“Dammit,” he cursed under his breathe. He couldn’t very well follow her, not without her noticing him. Attempting to seem nonchalant, he strolled past, giving an offhand glance down the alley. It was empty. “Mother-”

“Hello, sweetheart.” His head whipped to face the woman who had somehow appeared in front of him. She leaned out against the wall of a nearby building, stretching out seductively. “Looking for me?” She gave an airy, tinkling laugh.

“Sorry,” Dean tilted his head forward, furrowing his brow to give his best confused-slash-annoyed look. “Who are you?”

“Honey, I’m the girl you’ve been following since the bar. Surely you remember the girl you’ve been stalking?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he crossed his arms, frown deepening. “Listen, lady, whatever messed up-”

“Shh,” she strolled forward leisurely, stopping so close to him he could practically taste the perfume she was drowning in. He resisted the urge to give a hacking cough. She placed a red tipped nail against his lips, trailing it down softly until her nail reached his bottom lip, tugging at it. Her breathe fanned across his face. “Let’s not play these games. I know exactly what you want.”

“Yeah?” He uncrossed his arms, placing his hands on her stomach, his fingers curling around her waist. “What’s that?” Her face moved to face his ear, brushing her lips against the shell of his ear.

“What all men want.” As her hands trailed down his front, his grip tightened.

“Yeah, well not me sweetheart.” He spun her around, slamming her against the hard, unforgiving surface of the wall she had previously lain against. His hand found its way to her throat, squeezing in warning. “What are you?” He demanded. In response, she gave a laugh, leading him to grip tighter in frustration.

“I’m a human,” she wheezed. “Just like you, you paranoid-”

He pulled on her neck, yanking her back before slamming her head roughly against the wall. “No more bullshit. What are you?”

“That’s how you wanna play it, big boy? Okay, okay.” Grinning, she brought her knee directly up to connect with his crotch.

“Son of a bitch!” He exclaimed, releasing his hold on her neck, bent double and clutching at his crotch. Taking advantage of his weakness, she pulled her arm back and launched her fist into her face. Already off balance, Dean was sent sprawling onto his ass. “Alright lady, that’s enough!” He all but roared, pulling his gun from his coat and pointing it directly at her. Without hesitation, he fired rapid shots in succession, to her head, her stomach and heart. She dropped like a stone.

“Dean!” He heard Sam call out. Turning towards the sound, he saw Sam sprinting towards him, closely followed by his father and Rufus.

“I’m fine, Sammy,” he replied, his voice thick and rough, embarrassed to be caught on his ass. “I handled it.”

“Damn right you handled it, son, you fucking killed her!” John said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Dean avoided his father’s eyes. “Dean!” He reluctantly met his gaze. “Do you know how bad you fucked up?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We needed her to talk.”

“I know, sir.”

“Do you ever think before you act? Jesus Christ…” He turned away to analyse the body, mumbling under his breath.

“How’d you take it down?” Dean was glad for Rufus’ cutting through the silence.

“Shot her, head, stomach and heart.”

“Silver bullets?”

“Nah, just regular,” he shrugged, the ends of his mouth tilted down. “Honestly, I was surprised she was went down so easy.” He walked over to where Sam and John were kneeled beside the body.  
“We gotta get the body out of here. Go get the car, Dean.” John failed to so much as glance at Dean as he issued the order.

“Yes sir.” He walked away without another word, his fists clenching erratically. He knew he fucked up, he knew. Ever since hell…damn, he’d just been so fucking trigger happy. Honestly, it gave him a rush. To vent his frustrations, to erase all the weakness he felt. God, he had felt so fucking helpless down there, all he could do was cry out for help, all he could do was beg. The power he felt stripping another soul of their lives, god, it was like an addiction. And he knew, he knew he was sick for feeling it, enjoying it, but he couldn’t help it, he just…

“Dean?” A voice cut through the night, yanking him out of the depressive spiral of his thoughts.

“Cas,” his name escaped from Dean’s lips, a strangled plea, though for what Dean wasn’t sure.

“Are you alright?” The concern was clearly etched across his face. The question snapped him back to reality.

“Er, yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Just peachy.”

“You look upset.”

“I’m fine, Cas,” he stressed.

“My apologies.” They stood together for an indeterminate amount of time, neither facing each other, silent save for the huffs of breath. A part of him, a big part, wanted to apologise to Cas for snapping, but all sense in him told him to keep Cas at arms length. He needed to be protected from his fucked up world.

“It was nice to see you again, Cas,” he said despite himself. He thought he saw Cas shudder. It was probably nothing more than the cold. “See you around.” When all he received from Castiel in the way of a reply was a nod, he turned away and continued towards the bar. He would fetch Mary and Bobby, and then they would be out of this goddamn bar and that pair of sad blue eyes he felt he could drown in.


	7. Chapter 7

Castiel wanted to be angry. All he was, was confused. The way Dean had called his name…there was a desperation lining the single word that made him want to protect Dean from all the evils of the world. But then…Then Dean had pushed him away, leaving him standing cold and alone in the dark in that empty car park. He waited, longer than he should have, for Dean to come back, for Dean to apologise. Dean didn’t so much as give him a backward glance. Of course, Cas had watched him walk away, the muscles of his back and shoulders clearly tense, despite the loose plaid shirt he had on, it was obvious to Cas. He knew it was strange, to feel so strongly about a practical stranger. There was just something alluring about him, something that pulled him in. As soon as he thought it, Cas regretted it. Dean didn’t want him, he had made it blatantly obvious. Cas would just have to get over this pathetic little crush and move on with his life. 

He waited in the car for about ten minutes for his brothers to stumble out of the bar and clamber into his car, both having struck out with the girls they were with. Honestly, Castiel believed they enjoyed the flirt and the chase more than spending time, intimately, with a girl. 

“Cassie!” Gabriel shouted as he sat down in the passenger seat, slapping him on his arm. “My baby brother, you know I love you the most, right?” Castiel sighed. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with their drunken antics tonight. He was too wrapped up in Dean.

“The sweets are in the glove compartment.”

“Gummy bears?” Gabriel’s eyes were round, filled with hope and childish desire. 

“Two bags!” Gabriel whooped, diving to open the compartment. 

“Cassie, Castiel,” he said in a serious tone. He grabbed his face between two slightly sticky hands and turned it to face him. His face was smushed into a pout. “You are, without a doubt, my favourite brother in. The. Whole. Wide. World.” 

“Thank you, Gabriel,” he managed to spit out through the pout. Sighing happily, Gabriel settled against the seat and tore open a bag. Now free from his hold, Castiel started the car. 

“Gaaabbbbbeeeee,” Balthazar moaned. “I want some. Share.” He reached between the seats, attempting to get to the bag. Gabriel nearly bit his hand off. “Hey!”

“Get your own!”

“You have two whole bags, I only want a few!” 

“Sucks for you.” The two bickered almost the entire way home, until Balthazar grew tired and gave up. He slumped against the seat, crossing his arms like a petulant child. Despite himself, a his mouth curled into the beginnings of a smile. He loved his brothers.

All of a sudden, Balthazar sat poker straight, a grin on his face. “Say, Cassie, who was that green-eyed hunk chatting you up at the bar?” Castiel immediately scowled. He took it back, he hated his brothers.

“He was not chatting me up.”

“So you agree he’s a hunk!” Gabriel interjected. 

“No-I-no!”

“So who is he?” Balthazar smiled evilly.

“His name is Dean. He’s an…acquaintance, at most. He was the mechanic who fixed Michael’s car.”

“A mechanic ay? So he’s good with his hands.” Castiel groaned at Gabriel's words.

“Please do not start this. Dean has no interest in me, and the feeling is mutual. I barely know the man.”

“You don’t need to know someone to be attracted to them,” Gabriel winked. 

“Well, I’m not.” This was the last thing Castiel needed – for his brothers to be a constant reminder of Dean. More specifically, how uninterested he was in Cas.

“I’m not sure that he’s not into you, Cas,” Balthazar speculated. “He seemed quite annoyed when that blonde came up to you in the bar.” Castiel thought back. What had Dean wanted to say to him? He was positive it was about the girl. Did they know each other?

“He was just warning me about the girl.”

“Warning you?” His voice all of a sudden adopted a serious edge, one with which Castiel was unfamiliar.

“Yes?” He replied hesitantly.

“What exactly did he say?”

“Nothing, you came before he could say anything, really.” Balthazar visibly relaxed. “Why?”

“No reason. Just gotta look out for my baby brother.” He traded side looks with Gabriel through the rear-view mirror that they were sure he missed. Castiel’s curiosity was burning. What were they hiding from him? The family rarely had secrets from each other, since their parents died. 

Chuck and Ariel Novak had been your regular, run of the mill parents. His mother, admittedly, had been slightly snobby, but that was to be expected what with her coming from wealth. However, she had loved her children with all her heart and it the car crash that had ended their lives had been a devastating blow to the entire family. It was the reason they were so close now, all still living at home despite his eldest brother, Michael, being thirty years old.

He couldn’t imagine moving out and abandoning his family. Once they reached home, Castiel ensured both brothers safely reached their beds before collapsing on his own. His body ached with exhaustion, yet he couldn’t sleep. Instead, he spent the night staring up at the ceiling, wondering what was so wrong with him that repelled Dean.

His eyes finally drifted shut around six in the morning. He was awoken far too soon at nine by warring voices. He assumed at first it was Lucifer and Michael arguing over something petty as they did every morning. Being only a year apart in age meant they often battled for dominance. It was something that Castiel stayed far away from. However, his eyes snapped open when he realised that, though Michael’s voice reached his ears, Lucifer’s did not. Instead, he heard Gabriel. He rolled out of bed, going to the bathroom and thus allowing them the chance to end the fight before he made it downstairs. However, ten minutes later they were still going strong, with the occasional interjection from Balthazar. 

He made his way down the stairs, head pounding from exhaustion. Their loud voices were like a hammer slamming against his skull. His ears were still ringing from the heavy bass and booming music from the night before. In fact, he was surprised Gabriel was in a fit enough condition to be arguing with Michael like this. He would have thought he would still be recovering from all the drinking last night.

Sure enough, Balthazar was drooped over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table, bags under his eyes and rubbing his forehead. It was clear he was still nursing a hangover. Gabriel, on the other hand, looked fierce as ever. As Castiel entered the kitchen, Balthazar’s head snapped up to face him, his eyes growing wide. The other two, however, did not seem to notice. 

“You cannot act like this anymore, Gabriel, you are not a child! You must think about the consequences of your actions, not just on our family but on the world!”

“Boys!” Balthazar spoke up, laughing slightly, though Castiel could tell he was nervous. “Castiel is awake. I'm sure that this is not want he wants to be greeted with first thing in the morning.” Immediately they fell silent. After a pause, Michael spoke. 

“Good morning, Castiel.” He cleared his throat. Gabriel gave him a weak attempt at a smile.

“Good morning, Michael, Gabriel. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, just a little brotherly disagreement,” Gabriel said, slapping Michael on the shoulder so hard he winced.

Sending a glare towards Gabriel, he agreed. “Yes, nothing you need to concern yourself with. Gabriel was just being immature and irresponsible, but what’s new about that?” His words were dripping with venom. 

“And Michael was just being a selfish ass.”

“Why is it that I am the only one that cares about the wellbeing of this family?” Michael roared. “I am tired of your constant insubordination-”

“Insubordination? We’re a family Michael, not a goddamn garrison-”

“Boys!” Balthazar interrupted, this time with more force. “This is not the time.” Castiel swore he saw Balthazar glance at him. Still fuming, they fell silent.

“You’re right,” Michael said, clearing his throat. “Have some breakfast, Castiel, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.” 

“Mmm,” he replied before moving towards the kettle. He was in desperate need of a cup of tea to soothe his headache. Anything, like worrying about what they were keeping from him, for instance, could wait until later.

***

The day passed and was, for the most part, relatively mundane. Castiel did the grocery shopping, cleaned his room, the bathrooms and his car before retiring to his room with his textbooks and a sandwich. Soon enough, he was being summoned for dinner.

The tension at the table was obvious. Snide comments were aimed at Michael on Gabriel’s part, who simply pretended Gabriel didn’t exist. Lucifer looked far too happy that for once he was not under fire from Michael, Raphael looked fed up and uninterested and Anna was wrapped up in her own world, ignorant to it all. She was the only one speaking, complaining about a boy from her lectures who she had apparently been seeing for the past two months. Castiel felt slightly ashamed that he had missed this part of his sisters life, and made a silent promise to pay more attention to her. To be fair to him though, not many people listened to Anna. She did have a tendency to go on for a while, as did Balthazar come to think of it. They were the perfect pair. 

“I can take care of him for you if you want, Annie,” Lucifer flashed her an evil grin. She wrinkled her nose up in disgust.

“Don’t call me that. But I might have to take you up on that offer, Luci, the guy is a total ass!” Castiel allowed their banter to fade to the background, focusing instead on Gabriel and Michael. They never fought. Something of catastrophic proportions must have occurred to have them fighting like this.

For the rest of the week, things remained terse between the two. Though the screaming matches had since ceased, he would catch the two muttering to each other in private, and they didn’t seem to be any closer to finding a solution.

Castiel wanted to stay out of his brothers’ business, but he just knew it had something to do with him, and he was dying to know. By the end of the week, after countless failed attempts at eavesdropping, Castiel was desperate enough to go to Balthazar. 

“It’s nothing you need to worry about Cassie.” Was the only answer he could get from him, before Balthazar announced he had a “hot date with a sultry red head” and promptly left. By this point, Castiel was at wits end. He’d feel personally offended if not for the fact that Anna looked just as oblivious as he. Castiel, back in his room, sat down on his bed and sighed. Maybe it was best if he put it out of his mind. His brothers would never intentionally do anything to hurt him. If they were hiding something, it was for his own good. He trusted them to make the best decision for him.


	8. Chapter 8

Indeed, it was an entire month until Castiel worried himself with it again. It all began when his car refused to start one morning. He groaned, looking out the window of his car at the pouring rain outside. All his brothers were working, and Anna was already at university. He glanced down at the time on his phone. He supposed he could call a taxi. As soon as the thought occurred to him, his phone screen went blank. Dead. 

He groaned, banging his head against the steering wheel. He was always, always prepared. It was only last night when Gabriel stole his charger that he forewent charging his phone overnight. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He would take the car to the garage later in the day, for now, he would have to brave it in the rain and walk. Sighing deeply, he pulled out his umbrella, (something that he thankfully did remember), he began the long trek. Five minutes into the walk, a horn sounded behind him. He turned to see an unfamiliar car slowing to a roll behind him to follow him. 

Oh great! Castiel thought to himself. An axe murder. Maybe if he ignored them, they would go away. The horn of the sleek black car rang out behind him once more as the car came to a complete stop. Against his better nature, he made his way to the window of the car to see what they wanted. The driver rolled down the window, revealing none other than Dean Winchester. 

“Dean!” He exclaimed in surprise. 

“Jesus Christ, Cas man, its pouring out, get in!”

“Thank you!” He accepted gratefully, making himself comfortable in the passenger side of the car. “I appreciate this. My car broke wouldn’t start, but I had to get to university somehow.”

“I’ll get you there no problem. You go Stanford?” Dean pretending not to know. Of course, he remembered that Castiel himself was interviewed about the Amazonian killings last month. After Dean killed the girl, they managed to track her back to the rest of the group, wiping most of them out. The rest disappeared and they hadn’t heard from them since. 

“Yes, that’s right.” Dean nodded, trying to concentrate on his words rather than the drop of rain water rolling down his lips, or the one trailing down his neck…He pushed the thoughts out of his head and focused on replying. It could never happen with Castiel.

“Well, it’s your lucky day. I was just on my way there to picky up Sammy.”

“Sam, your brother?”

“Yep,” a proud smile made his way onto Dean’s face. “He’s the smart one, Sammy, managed to get himself a scholarship and everything. He’s gonna be a lawyer, do big things.” 

“That’s very impressive.” Castiel wasn’t lying, Dean could feel the sincerity behind the words and flashed him a boyish grin Castiel had never seen before but prayed never faded. 

“Hey, maybe when you’re done with lectures, give me a call and I’ll come and take a look at your car.” 

“You would do that?” 

“’Course,” he waved his hand dismissively. “It’s what I do for a living. What’s the use if I can’t help out a friend every now and again.” Friend. Castiel was sure the word would haunt him. 

“Thank you, Dean.” 

“Hey, it’s nothing. Here,” he pulled his phone from his jacket as they stopped at a red light. Put your number in my phone.” Castiel took it from him, saving his number. He knew Dean was just doing him a favour, but he felt an unbelievable thrill from Dean wanting his number. As much as he attempted to quash the feelings, he felt hopeful that maybe Dean may like him, too.  
“Mind if I?” Dean gestured towards the radio.

“Not at all,” Castiel shook his head. In fact, he was far too eager to learn more about Dean, including his music tastes. He flipped it on, only for the car to be filled with the sound of Taylor Swift.  
“Dammit, Sammy! I- I don’t listen to her! I swear, he plays with my pre-sets!” 

“I’m sure.” Castiel turned his head to hide his smile, though he couldn’t help the amusement that leaked into his words.

“I-I don’t!”

“Then why is it still on?” Dean practically lunged back towards the radio, stabbing at a button that replaced Taylor with the blaring sounds of guitar and drums. As he settled back into his seat, there was a moment of silence, before Castiel burst out laughing. The sound was so enticing, Dean found himself caught up in the laughter too, despite being at his own expense. The pink blush did not fade from his cheeks, although he blamed the cold. 

"So what do you listen to then, Mr Judgemental?" Smiling slightly, Castiel shrugged. 

"Mostly whatever my siblings have been listening to that catches in my head. When I want to unwind, I listen to classical music. I'm not all that picky when it comes to music."

"Fair enough," Dean responded, drumming the fingers of one hand against his thigh to the tune of the song. 

Absentmindedly, Castiel hummed along. It was a Metallica song, he recognised, something about a sandman? He didn’t miss Dean’s curious gaze in his direction, however hard he was trying not to stare at him. 

“Eyes on the road, Dean,” he smirked. Dean paid no heed to his teasing.

“You know Metallica?” Castiel shrugged, finally turning to face Dean. He was glad Dean was facing away from him, or else Castiel would once again find himself lost in those green eyes. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t plenty of other things Castiel could admire on Dean. His chiselled jaw, or the freckles that were spattered around his eyes like stars on the night sky. “Cas?” Dean prompted, reminding him that he was yet to answer the question. 

“My brother, Lucifer. He enjoys music of the sort. It’s hard not to hear it when it’s being pumped out of the speakers at top volume, especially when he wants to get back at Michael after whatever fight they’ve just had.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean’s face crumpled up in incredulity. “You have a brother called Lucifer?!”

“Yes,” Castiel looked at his lap in embarrassment. He was well aware it was an odd thing to name a child. “My parents – father in particular – were obsessed with all things biblical. My siblings and I, we’re all named after angels.”

“Hey, angels I get, but your parents named your brother after Satan?” 

“It’s a fitting name,” Castiel joked weakly. “In all honesty, we’re not sure exactly why they did it. All they said was that, once, Lucifer was one of God’s most beloved Angels, and no matter what you do, you can’t erase family. Never made much sense to me, I suppose the lesson itself was a good one, but it always seemed so cruel to Lucifer, to turn him into a teaching point.” Dean made a soft ‘hmm’ sound as he processed the information.

“So I guess your parents are kinda religious then, huh?” Castiel tried not to wince at the present tense.

“They weren’t so much, in all honestly. I think they named us as they did to sort of make up for it.”

“What are your other siblings called, then?”

“Well, you already know Michael. The oldest, and accordingly named after the first Archangel.”

“That explains his holier-than-thou prissy boy attitude.” Castiel couldn’t help but agree as they both chuckled.

“Yes, well, in all fairness Michael had a hard life. He was forced to take care of all of us when our parents died, and that doesn’t leave much room for, well, being a relaxed sort of person.” Castiel was certain at this point he was oversharing, but Dean did not seem to mind, and it felt good to share his life with someone else. Someone he wasn’t related to. He didn’t fully understand why, but he trusted Dean. 

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents.” Dean said gruffly, clearly uncomfortable and unsure how to address the topic. “How-was it-?” 

“It was a while ago, I’ve had time to process. Ten years, actually. I was twelve.” Dean nodded. He didn’t have to say anything, Castiel knew that though he was unfamiliar with the concept, he understood Castiel’s loss. Trying to ease the tension, Castiel continued speaking. “Anyway, born a year after Michael was Lucifer, which explains why they’ve got such a…complicated relationship. Competing for our father’s love and dominance and all that. Then a year after came Raphael, then Gabriel, two years later Balthazar, a year later Anna, and then two years later, me.”

“Ahh,” Dean grinned at him. “So you’re the baby of the family.” Castiel blushed and ducked his head. 

“It seems so. Though it does mean the others fawn over me, so who am I to complain?” He dramatically threw his head to the side as if flipping long, flowing locks of hair to the side before bringing the back of his hand under his chin, posing for a moment before joining in on Dean’s laughter. 

All too soon, the journey was over.

“Thank you again, Dean, you certainly saved me time and hopefully saved me from a cold.” Dean gave him another smile, though this time it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I was going the same way. Like I said, it’s nothing.” Disheartened by Dean’s change in attitude, but not wanting to seem ungrateful, Castiel rewarded him with a winning, gummy smile. Once Castiel had clambered out of the car and begun to make his way to the entrance, he could not help the way his own smile grew into something far more sincere, his heart warm with something Dean dared not to characterise as anything more than fondness.


	9. Chapter 9

Castiel’s classes passed quickly and without issue. He was just packing his books away when his phone began vibrating. His phone identified the caller as Anna.

“Anna?” He answered.

“Hey, Cassie. I saw your texts about your car! You want a ride home?”

He considered the offer as he left the lecture theatre and made his way outside. He had hoped to see Dean again, perhaps he would offer him a ride home - but that was foolish. Dean was probably halfway home with Sam already. He was about to accept Anna’s offer when he saw Dean lounging on the hood of his car where he had parked it earlier, waving at him and pointing at the car in an inquisitorial manner.

“No thanks, I’m getting a ride from a friend.”

“Aww that’s cute! I’m glad your branching out more.” Castiel was only half listening.

“Yeah – we’ll talk more when we get home.” He heard her tinkling laugh over the phone.

“I’ll leave you to your friend! Talk to you later, Cassie!” She hung up before he had a chance to respond. Nervously, he made his way over to Dean.

“Hey,” Dean greeted.

“Hello, Dean,” he tried to keep his voice light. He saw something flicker in Dean’s eyes, but it was gone before he had a chance to identify it. “I’m surprised to see you still here.”

“Yeah, well,” he smiled sheepishly, running his hand through his hair and looking down. “Sammy had to come back for something, and of course I had to give the sasquatch a ride. You need one too?”

“That would be great, thank you.” Dean slid off the hood, standing up straight and gesturing to the passenger’s side of the car.

“Hop in the front, we’ll make Sammy sit in the back.” He grinned, and Castiel couldn’t help but find him utterly adorable teasing his brother. Of course, he would never voice those sentiments aloud. Instead, he slid into the front seat. “Where d’ya live, anyway?”

“Just down Grassmere Avenue, not too far from where you picked me up.”

“I know where that is,” Dean nodded. “Just past our house, on the way to the shop. Hey, why don’t we kill two birds. I’ll drop Sammy home and then take you back and we’ll take a look at your car.”

“I would appreciate that immensely.”

“No biggie.” Castiel wasn’t sure where the urge came from, but he wanted to stick his pinky into the cheek dimples that emerged when Dean smiled at him like that. They weren’t waiting for long before Sam arrived, looking annoyed at being forced into the backseat like a child. Despite his size, there was a childlike quality to Sam, (that Castiel mostly attributed to the hair that flopped down into his eyes), that made Castiel immediately fond of him. He opted to remain mostly silent throughout the ride, allowing the two brothers to monopolise the conversation. He was eager to learn more about Dean.

“So Sammy, when you planning on finally asking Jess out?”

Eyes widening comically, he spluttered “What-no-Jess-no-no-Jess-I mean-”

“As you can see, Sammy’s quite the lady’s man,” Dean raised his eyebrows at Cas who responded with a chuckle. Sam blushed, and immediately responded with strong denials about having any feelings about Jess. When they pulled up to the house, Sam leapt out, slamming the car door and glaring daggers at Dean. “Hey, watch the car!” He yelled, throwing his hands up. “Kids,” he shook his head. “Wanna go look at your car now?”

“I would like that very much,” Castiel replied. He directed Dean to his home, where Balthazar too was just arriving. Stepping out, Castiel greeted him.

“Castiel, arriving home in a stranger’s car, scandalous.” He sighed.

“It’s not like that. Deans a…friend, who offered to help me with my car.”

“Car troubles? Well, any one of us could help that,” Balthazar’s brow furrowed ever so slightly as he took notice of who exactly was clambering out of the car.

“None of you know anything about cars, Balthazar. Anyway, shouldn’t you be happy I’m branching out?”

“Yes, yes of course.” He grinned at Castiel, though the worry lines never faded. “Well, I’m going inside to give you some alone time with your…friend. See you later.” Castiel did not watch him walk away, instead turning to face Dean who was leaning against his Continental.

“Who was that?” He asked casually.

“My brother, Balthazar.” Dean tilted his head back in a slight half nod, his eyes never leaving the door Balthazar had just gone through. He hummed thoughtfully. “You remembered my car.”

“What? Oh, yeah, well who could forget this…”

“Work of art?” Castiel supplied teasingly.

“Sure, yeah let’s go with that.” He grinned. “Come on then, let’s try start it up and see what’s wrong with it.”

Castiel handed him the keys then slid into the passenger seat. Dean turned the key in the ignition a few times, before turning to Cas with a slight smile on his face. “You don’t know a lot about cars, do ya?”

“No, what’s wrong with it?!” Castiel immediately began rubbing the seat, as if soothing it. “It’s bad, isn’t it. Is it going to explode? It’s going to explode!”

“Cas, Cas!” Dean caught his attention by grabbing onto his hand, effectively halting his anxious ministrations. “It’s fine,” he laughed. “It’s nothing really. Sometimes when it’s cold, the car gets a little damp and cold itself. All you gotta do is give it a little gas as you turn the key, like this,” he demonstrated how to do it. Castiel leaned over Dean to see what he was doing with his feet, so close he could feel the warmth of his body. Dean cleared his throat. The car roared to life. “There we go, see? Easy as pie.”

“Thank you, Dean,” Castiel pulled himself away, with great difficulty, creating space between the two of them. “I'm - quite hopeless with these things.” 

“Hey, man, it’s nothing. I’m sure you know lotsa things I don’t.”

“I think you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.” His voice was lower, and the smile slowly slipped from Dean’s mouth as a light blush tinged his cheeks.

“Well – uh – thanks.” Was his only reply. They stared into each other’s eyes, and Castiel noticed every fleck of brown in his green eyes. He was sure he could spend an age merely counting the freckles on his on his face, committing them to memory. It was Dean, unsurprisingly, who turned away first.

“So, uh,” he cleared his throat. We should probably drive this thing around a bit, get the engine to heat up and turning on the engine and not driving it is kinda a drain on the battery, so, yeah, unless you want me to go and you wanna just drive by yourself it can be kinda peaceful,” he cut of his rambling, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck.

“You can drive, Dean, you’re there already.” He nodded and moved off, all the while Castiel was trying in vain not to focus on how cute his rambling was.

 

***

 

With Castiel so close, it was making Dean’s head swim. This was dangerous. He couldn’t get involved with him. He couldn’t stand another Lisa. No, if Dean really liked this guy, then he would do right by him and stay away. The fact that they were going on a long drive together didn’t count as spending time together. Nope. Dean just wanted information on his brother, who happened to know all about hunters. He needed a way to bring him up inconspicuously. “So that was Balthazar, huh? The one four years older?”

“Yes. You remembered?”

“You don’t always need to sound so shocked, y’know. I’m a good listener.” When he was crushing hard on the guy, anyway, but that was beside the point.

“My apologies,” Castiel chuckled. “He was the reason we left the bar so early that night. It was odd, he had a woman with him so I expected him to go home with her.”

“What,” he cleared his throat. “What about you, I mean, do you, like, are you…” He trailed off hopelessly. He could swear out of the corner of his eye he could see Cas grinning.

“I don’t really enjoy finding lovers in bars.” Goddammit, that didn’t help Dean at all. Man? Woman? Ladybugs? It was like Cas was teasing him, and by the way his stare was drilling into the side of Dean’s face it seemed more than likely.

“So never?”

“Maybe not never.” Castiel shrugged. At this point Dean was sure Cas was screwing with him.

“Huh.” Ignoring the burning curiosity that made his chest tight and his stomach churn, Dean forced himself to redirect the conversation to where it should be headed. “Y’know, I think I remember seeing him the other night at the bar. Guy looked a little tense. Was something up?” What Dean did not know was that Castiel had been wondering the very same thing himself.

“Not to my knowledge. I guess he and Gabriel simply grew tired of the bar and wanted to return home. They were drunk, so…” Castiel let the sentence trail off before clearing his throat.

“Fair enough.” Dean nodded thoughtfully, trying not to seem too put out. _Guy didn’t seem all that gone to me_ , he thought to himself.

The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortable silence, with a few comments exchanged here and there. Mostly, their thoughts remained centred around the strange behaviour of the Novak siblings, keeping them more than occupied. Dean was more than happy to simply enjoy Castiel’s presence. He didn’t need to feel guilty, he reasoned, it was important that he get to know Cas to find out more about his brothers.

It had nothing to do with the depth and complexity of emotion he could see swirling in his deep blue eyes. Nor did it have anything to do with the plump bow of his lips, or even the swirl of hair upon his head that was practically begging him to run his fingers through it. No, it had nothing to do with how Dean Winchester liked Castiel Novak. It was just business.

In the same vein, when he pulled up in front of the Novak household and made plans with Castiel for the next weekend, it was for the sole purpose of gaining information, and not at all because the thought of being away from Castiel for extended periods of time made him ache. He gave Castiel his signature grin, made genuine by the gleam in those green eyes, before speeding off with his heart light.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! First of all, thank you so much for reading I know my updates are kinda spread out and late! Just wanted to say I went back over my story and realised earlier Balthazar was just a friend to Cas, but later I made him a brother, so I fixed it so he was always a Novak. Also, there's a little sexy stuff in here so if you don't like that kinda thing, just skipped over it I've made it clear where it is and its really short anyway. Xx

 

The moment the Impala was out of sight, Castiel began to regret agreeing to meet Dean this Saturday. They hadn’t agreed to anything too extreme, just pie at a local café Dean enjoyed, yet Castiel still felt uneasy. Dean was dangerous. Spending time with him would inevitably mean he would become attached – more so than he already was – but did Dean even like him? It certainly seemed so…Castiel was sure he was asking about girls to determine his orientation. But Dean was so hot and cold. Castiel wasn’t sure what would trigger that coldness, that detachment that seemed to come and go sporadically.

In the end, as he trudged up the driveway towards his home, he decided that he would give Dean a chance. He really did not know him well enough yet to judge his behaviour. There was still hope. He pushed away the small voice in his mind that this was merely wishful thinking.

Castiel was soon distracted by the poorly disguised whispers coming from the kitchen. He discerned the voices as Gabriel and Balthazar. They appeared not to notice the noise of the door opening and closing, still engrossed in their conversation.

“Gabriel, _no_ , you know what Michael will say-”

“Fuck Michael!” Gabriel spat, and Castiel flinched, not knowing this kind of anger to ever come from his brother. “A _hunter_ , Balthazar, a hunter! Are you oblivious to the kind of danger Cassie is in, or do you just not care?” Though the curiosity coursing through him was nearly overwhelming, Castiel could tell Balthazar’s next comment would cause the exchange to spiral quickly, so he intervened.

“Who’s a hunter?” Castiel asked casually, not making eye contact as he walked towards the cupboards and rummaged around for a snack.

“Steve, uh, Irwin,” Gabriel replied a little too quickly.

“Crocodile hunter,” Balthazar added.

“May he rest in peace,” Gabriel nodded solemnly. He gave the two the normal puzzled look, as though confused over their strangeness rather than their conversation, before heading out the kitchen.

“Right, okay then.” Once back to his bedroom, Castiel settled onto his bed to ponder the day’s events. He was sure he was mistaken, but Dean seemed a little too interested in Balthazar. And who was this hunter that would anger Michael so? Someone who he knew, perhaps even someone he was close too…He could think of no one. The only person he really had contact with outside the family was Meg, whom he had sought solace in during the Dean free month. They couldn’t possibly be talking about her. It had to have something to do with the fight Gabriel and Michael had a while back. Gabriel’s words rang in his ears.

_“We’re a family Michael, not a goddamn garrison-”_

Garrison. This word in particular stuck out to Castiel. Garrison. He stood and made his way over to his desk. Pulling open a draw, Castiel looked through it until he found his most prized possession. It sat in a plain, black little box. It was nothing special, really, but it meant the world to Castiel. His father’s wedding ring. A simple silver band, nothing flashy, yet it never dulled. It always seemed to be sparkling.

Castiel remembered little of his father, yet could never part with the ring. Castiel was not one for sentimentality, this was his only keepsake, but he would never part with it. Lately, he had been thinking about  it more often, wanting to feel the coolness of the metal against his skin.

He found a chain – from a necklace Anna had bought him eons ago that had never seen the light of day. He removed the pendant and threaded the chain through the ring. He brought it up and around his neck, the chain long enough that the ring hid underneath his shirt.

The weight around his neck immediately soothed him in a way he didn’t know was possible, helped him to make sense of the agitated mess of his thoughts.

Gabriel was doing something that would put the family in a bad way. It had something to do with a hunter he knew. Dean popped into his mind – Dean who seemed to worry Balthazar and he could only assume from his questions vice versa. But he banished the thought. They barely knew Dean, and he had done nothing to elicit such a reaction.

Once again settling on his bed, he fired up his laptop and into the search engine entered the word ‘hunter’. The results were predictably unenlightening. He tried again – ‘hunter definition’. _A person or animal that hunts._ Again, not helpful. Similarly, ‘hunter California’ and ‘hunter Winchester’ only provided him with a list of guns. He was about to try ‘hunter Stanford’ when a thought occurred to him. Stanford. That day, when Professor Jones had been murdered…there was that FBI agent with the strange name and the even stranger questions. Luther Vandross. At this point, call it paranoia or a culmination of equally perplexing events, Castiel was sure that ‘Luther Vandross’ was an alias.

What had he asked? Castiel racked his brain. He had wanted to know about…anxiety? And…cold spots, flickering lights. Castiel tried a new search. ‘Hunter cold spot flickering lights’. That gave a more satisfying match.

There was a whole website of these self-proclaimed ghost hunters. Most on the chat portion of the website were clearly delusional, but Castiel was not so sure about the people who ran the site. He clicked on one of their videos, watching them instruct budding hunters on how to load their shot guns with rock salt, or use iron as a weapon. He slammed the lid of his laptop shut and rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming.

So, assuming Luther Vandross was a hunter investigating the strange circumstances of Professor Jones’ death, he could understand why Gabriel was worried that Castiel had been in contact with one. The guy was a nut job. But what he _couldn’t_ understand was the relevance of it now – it had been so long ago. And why did it make Michael so angry? And if Luther was the problem, then what was the deal with Balthazar and Dean?

He groaned, falling back onto his pillows. Maybe he was just bored and imagining problems where they simply didn’t exist. He didn’t know for sure that there was _anything_ going on between his brother and Dean.

“God!” He hissed, the frustration building within him. Why were his brothers hiding things from him, like he was a child? Just because he was the youngest it didn’t mean they needed to protect him. If something was going on, something so closely related to him, then he should know!

But something was going on. He sat up, his mind whirring. Professor Jones’ death was a murder, a horrific one at that. He entered the name into the search engine and selected the first article he could find.

_Professor Landon Jones of Stanford University was yet another victim of the serial murders of male professors all around the country. Police have yet to identify the killers but have confirmed that it is indeed a group of women dubbed the ‘Amazons’ from their ritualistic methods of carving the Greek symbol associated with the Goddess Harmonia. It is expected that the suspected cult will target another five men, another from Stanford itself, as fits the cycle every two years._

_Police have been highly criticised-_

He hit the back button, this time searching for the cult itself. The most recent article was from three weeks ago, naming another victim, this time from a university in Oregon. Police were puzzled by the break in the cycle, it was as if they had fled the state. And since then, nothing.

Castiel closed the lid once more, but this time slowly, each movement measured. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. Something had scared them away. No, some _one_. ‘Luther Vandross’ maybe? He could have gotten too close to the answer, to their identity, causing them to flee to the next state to escape him.

“Ugh.” He was driving himself crazy like this, sitting in his bedroom creating conspiracy theories in his head like a nut. He needed some air. Maybe with a little time, his brothers would feel a little more forthcoming with information. Castiel made his way downstairs and out the back door, closing his eyes and breathing in the cool air.

As it happened, Castiel needn’t wait long for one of his brothers to speak to him. Gabriel’s voice soon rang out behind him. “Hey lil bro.”

“Gabriel.” He greeted, nodding his head but not yet opening his eyes. “Why aren’t you at work?”

“Ah, Michael didn’t need me today. Knew I had more important things to do. He gave me and Balty the day off.”

“Mmm.” He replied, finally opening his eyes and turning to face Gabriel who stood in the doorway, twirling a lollipop between his fingers. “Perks of your brother being your boss, I suppose.” Gabriel wrinkled his nose.

“Don’t remind me. Bad enough I gotta wear a suit and work in a stuffy office in dad’s old contracting business, but Michael gets to boss me about all he wants. Gah! I don’t even like computers.” He grumbled. “But enough about that, c’mon.” He nodded his head towards the old swings hanging from the tree at the very back of the garden, long forgotten. Castiel seated himself upon one, and Gabriel on the other. He remained silent, waiting for him to speak.

“So, um,” he cleared his throat. “I bet ya probably noticed that we haven’t exactly been entirely…open, with you recently. Me, Balthazar, Raph and Michael, Anna is still oblivious. And we wanted to keep it that way, you know, without you and Anna knowing, worrying,” he sighed waving his hand dismissively. “And me and Michael didn’t exactly see eye to eye on this, but, in the end I guess I thought it was kinda for the best. But now  things are changing, circumstances are changing, and I _strongly believe_ that it is in no one’s best interest to keep hiding things. Michael can suck it. He doesn’t always know best-”

“Gabriel.” Castiel cut through his rambling.

“Right. Sorry. So, we gotta talk.”

“About what.” Gabriel shuffled around in his swing, turning to face Castiel as much as he could before remembering that he could simply turn the swing.

“Dean.”

“Dean?” Though he had considered the possibility that Dean could have been involved in all of this, he hadn’t really believed it. This came as a shock to him.

“Yes. Dean. Winchester. Now, I don’t know _exactly_ what’s going on there, but the Winchesters are trouble. You need to keep your distance.”

“Trouble?” He repeated. “Let’s see, so far he has given me a ride so I didn’t have to walk in the rain, fixed Michael’s car, fixed _my_ car, and invited me out for a piece of pie. Yes, what a delinquent.” He deadpanned.

“ _Castiel_ ,” Gabriel sighed his name in exasperation. “I’m not saying that he’s pure evil. He’s probably a good kid. But that whole family, the shit they’re mixed up in, it’s trouble.” He shrugged.

“And what exactly are they mixed up in.” Gabriel paused for a moment, unable to meet Castiel’s eyes. In that moment, Castiel was sure the next words to leave his mouth were a lie.

“Drugs.”

“Drugs.”

“God, d’ya have to repeat everything I say? Yes, drugs. They tried to hook us in, we said no, they’re trouble, end of.” He stood up. “Now, if you excuse me, I have someplace I gotta be. Stay away Castiel,” he called over his shoulder. Castiel rolled his eyes. “I saw that!” Gabriel called from somewhere inside the house. Had he been in a better mood, he was sure he would have laughed.

 

***

 

The Winchester household was quiet, for a change. Celebrating the victory with the Amazons – who they and a few other experienced hunters tracked all the way down to Oregon – the clan was rewarded with a brief respite from hunting things that generally wanted to rip them to pieces.

Well, the term ‘victory’ was used loosely, Dean admitted. They had decimated a good number of their ranks, but he was sure there were a few still in hiding. They’d get the stragglers when they appeared again, however for now he was content in knowing that, for a little while at least, the killings had stopped.

It was unlike Dean to be so laid back about a job – what they did was important, they saved lives! But on this particular occasion he was more than happy to be back home and not in Oregon, miles and miles away from a certain blue eyed someone who frequented his dreams.

Dean called out for his mother but was met with silence. John was still in the shop, and Sammy was out on a study date with Jess. Seemed he had the whole house to himself. As he made his way up the stairs to the shower. He stripped down and entered the shower, enjoying the feeling of the warm water beating down on his tense muscles. He ran a soapy hand across his front, then down, lower. Despite himself, he found his thoughts wandering back to that moment in the car. What would have happened, if he had allowed himself to get lost in the moment?

**SKIP OVER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ANY SMUTTY STUFF**

He imagined himself smashing his lips against Castiel’s, letting go of all inhibition and all sense of duty and just _enjoying_ _himself_ , for a change. Cas would let out a little moan, and tangle his hands in his hair to draw him closer. In turn, Dean would press his hand against the back of Castiel’s neck, holding him in place, whilst using the other to explore what he imagined to be a slim but lean body.

Dean could no longer help himself. His hand strayed down to his cock, now semi-erect, and began to pump. He groaned lightly, imagining it to be Castiel’s hand around him. He pictured Castiel sinking to his knees in front of him, teasing the head of his dick with his tongue, trailing it ever so lightly across the slit, and then firmer all around. Dean would grow impatient, threading his hands through his hair and pulling him closer until his cock sinks into the warm, wet cove of Castiel’s mouth.

He pumps harder, and with the thought of those plush lips stretched around his throbbing member he lets out a grunt and explodes, painting the wall with his cum. He slumps against the wall, panting. Jesus Christ, he came fast. The thought of Castiel just turned him on so damn much. If he ever did get Cas on his knees, he’d have to last so much longer.

**END OF**

Finishing up in the shower, he pulled on a ratty old t-shirt and jeans and make his way downstairs just as his mother was coming through the doorway.

“Hey mom,” he pecked her cheek, relieving her of the heavy grocery bags in her arms. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to.”

“Mmm, had to get groceries, we’ve got some guests coming over.” Dean tilted his head back, his eyes narrowing.

“Guests…does that mean…?” Mary rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Dean, I’m making pie.” He groaned in anticipation, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“Have I ever told you you’re the best mom ever?”

“Yeah, well, don’t thank me just yet.” She shrugged him off, turning to face him. “Gordon Walker’s coming.”

“Seriously?” Dean raised his arms, incredulous. “That guy?”

“C’mon Dean, he’s not that bad. Besides, we need his help.”

“Yeah, right, there’s nothing that we can’t handle ourselves. Or call Bobby. Or Rufus. Or Martin. Or the Harvelles. Or Walt and Roy-”

“Dean, I get your point, but we need his expertise. We’re dealing with vampires here.” Dean scowled, turning away from Mary and pressing his hands against the island.

“We’ve dealt with vamps before.” He said dismissively.

“This nest is big, we need help. Gordon _is_ that help. End of discussion.”

“But mom, Gordon is-” Mary caught his eye and glared daggers, her signature look that had werewolves running with their tails between their legs. The angry mother look.

“End of discussion.”

“Whatever.” Dean stomped away.

“And you better be nice to him when he comes over, mister!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled.

“What are you so worked up about?” Sam asked as he walked through the front door.

“Gordon _Walker_ is coming to dinner.” Dean replied with fake enthusiasm.

“Ugh – _mom-_ ”

“Not you too, Samuel.”

“Ouch, full name.”

“Shut up,” Sam punched his arm.

The hours flew by, and soon enough it was time for dinner. At six pm sharp the doorbell rang, announcing Gordon’s arrival. Sam and Dean forced as much politeness as they could muster, but the entire evening was strained.

“Looking lovely as always Mary,” Gordon greeted, kissing her cheek. “Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

“Our pleasure Gordon, really. Here, give me your coat.”

“That’s fine Mary, really, I’ll hang it up myself. A little something for you, John,” he handed him a bottle of scotch, well appreciated by the older man. The boys exchanged glances, rolling their eyes as the senior hunters played Stepford.

Once settled at the table, the real annoyances began to roll in. “So Dean, it’s been a while since I last saw you. Worked that job up in...”

“Idaho, yeah.” Dean quickly shoved a mouthful of food into his mouth, so he wouldn’t have to continue the conversation. His attempt was in vain.

“Right, right. Didn’t see you there, though, Sammy?”

“Sam.” He replied dryly, receiving a glare from his mother. “Yeah, I’m kinda busy with college right now, but I do what I can.”

“A college boy I see, very impressive. Doesn’t really fit with the hunter lifestyle though does it? So you’ll be off in some fancy office soon?”

“He’s staying with the family. He knows his duty.” John interjected, leaving no room for argument from Sam, who merely pursed his lips.

“Mmm, following Dean’s example, right? Still living with your folks then, Dean?” Dean nodded in response. Truth be told, he had considered leaving many times, but so much as moving out would count as an unfathomable betrayal to the family. Hunters stick together. Besides, they travelled so much his own place would be a waste. Gordon knew and understood all this, but his “Hmm” in reply dripped with so much condescension Dean wanted to stab him with his fork.

Noticing Dean’s quick rise in anger, Mary quickly engaged Gordon in conversation. Soon enough, it was time for dessert. Nothing, not even Gordon fucking Walker would ruin this for Dean. As it happened, there was little room for snide comments as the conversation quickly headed towards hunting.

“So you got yourself a little vampire problem? Filthy things.” John hummed around a piece of pie.

“A nest,” he swallowed. “A big one. We need a lot of hands taking it down.”

“And you came to me.”

“You are our resident vampire expert,” Mary smiled.

“I’m flattered. But you’ll need more bodies than just little old me.”

“We’ve got a few friends in the wings. But it’s really their behaviour that got us.”

“How so?”

“A few weeks back we had a little problem with Amazons.”

“I heard, must have been an interesting one.”

John huffed a laugh. “That’s one word for it. Anyway, they were targeting professors in colleges all around the country. According to their pattern they were supposed to get another from Stanford before we chased ‘em off down to Oregon, and we finished most of them off. Rest went into hiding, we think.” Gordon nodded but remained silent. “Then the vamps came. First thing they did? Drain a guy from Stanford. Since then, we’ve seen three more bodies turn up, all the same. Only this time, they’re not just professors, but physics majors, or English. Students. It’s not much, but do you think…”

“Do I think the vampires are in league with the Amazons? Well, that’d be an interesting turn of events, wouldn’t it?” He fell silent for a moment, leaning back in his chair with his forearms against his knees, fingers steepled. “Personally, I’ve never heard of anything like it, but it’s _very_ possible. The Amazons getting the vamps to do their dirty work, hitmen and body guards all in one. If you want to get to them, you’ve got to get through the vamps.” Mary nodded.

“That’s what we thought, but it’s been damn near impossible for us to get confirmation, or even a whiff of them.”

“Let me do a little digging, see what I can come up with.”

***

The next few days passed without incident. Dean had very little interaction with Gordon. He knew he was out in the town somewhere, ‘digging’, but was staying in a nearby hotel where Dean didn’t have to hear or see him, for which he was endlessly grateful. His mind, instead, was occupied by the date he had coming up with Castiel.

Well, a date in the loosest sense of the word. Maybe like a pre-date. Friends meeting up to see if they could date. Dean shook his head. He didn’t want to overthink this. Besides, he was just in it for information, right?

Despite what he told himself, he couldn’t untangle the knot of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. This was the first time Cas was spending an extended period of time with him. What if he just thought he was another pretty face, but boring as hell underneath? After all, Dean wasn’t smart, he didn’t really have a personality at all past ‘hunter’. That’s what he was, that was what his purpose in life was, and Dean was fine with it. He was helping people. He just wasn’t sure that Cas would find it all that impressive, especially since he couldn’t tell the guy _anything._

By the time Saturday came about, Dean was half ready to skip town to avoid Cas. What the hell was he thinking? There was no way this could end well. Even if he somehow didn’t manage to epically fuck up today, the people he cared about always ended up hurt. _Lisa._

But the hunter in him wouldn’t let him run. He still needed answers. He needed to know if these Novak brothers would be trouble for his family. With that thought in mind, Dean dressed in his favourite plaid shirt, some semi decent jeans and drove out to meet Castiel.


End file.
